1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the monitoring of the fuel oil of a motor vehicle and more particularly, to an intelligent fuel oil monitoring system and method that accurately displays on a display unit the rest amount of the fuel oil and the estimated mileage the vehicle could travel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Regular oil meters for motor vehicle commonly use a float to detect the rest amount of fuel oil in the fuel tank and to indicate the current amount of fuel by means of FULL, ¾, ½, ¼ and EMPTY. This indication is an estimated value of the current fuel tank capacity. This float type fuel oil measuring system uses a float to detect the fuel oil level, causing a variable resistor to change its resistance subject to the change of the fuel oil level, and the change of the resistance value of the variable resistor drives the oil meter to indicate the rest fuel oil amount.
The indication of the aforesaid float type fuel oil measuring system is limited to upper and lower limits. The oil meter always indicates FULL when over the upper limit, or EMPTY when below the lower limit. Because regular fuel tanks have an irregular shape, every scale represents a different amount. Based on the indication of the oil meter of the motor vehicle, the driver must estimate the mileage the motor vehicle can go by means of experience. When the fuel oil is at a low level, the driver may be getting anxious, and may worry about finding no gas station and roadside breakdown. Therefore, regular oil meters have drawbacks as follows:
1. The pointer of the oil meter is still aimed at FULL after the fuel tank has been fully filled with fuel oil and the car has run for a certain distance, and the driver may misunderstand the indication of the oil meter.
2. Every scale indicated by the pointer of the oil meter represents a different amount of fuel oil for a different mileage to go, and the driver may misjudge the mileage the car could go with the rest amount of fuel oil.
3. When the pointer is aimed at EMPTY, the driver cannot know the actual rest amount of fuel oil and may worry about roadside breakdown and become anxious in finding a gas station, bringing negative effects on traffic safety.
4. When the indicator light of the oil meter is on, the driver will become more anxious.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a motor vehicle fuel oil monitoring system that eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks.